Swofford gets inspiration from family, friends, church

Crimson Bears center talks difficulties of repeat possibility

Crimson Bears senior post Hannah Swofford already has one state championship under her belt, but that hasn’t stopped her from being hungry to add another one this season.

The 6-foot-2 fourth-year varsity player has already committed to take her game to the next level at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore. She values her time spent as worship leader at her church, as well as with her friends and family and has a strong interest in the field of nursing.

What are your plans for next year?

“I’m going on a basketball scholarship to a college called Warner Pacific in Portland, Oregon, at the NAIA level. My sister graduated from there this past May and I went down there and just loved it. It’s a Christian school and I really like the atmosphere. While I was there, I went to an open gym and the coach seemed to really like me, and he asked me to go there. In January, after I was accepted, I told him I would (play basketball).”

What do you think you might want to study?

“I think the nursing field is really interesting. I like it because you can work anywhere. My mom is a registered nurse, and I’ve job shadowed and gone to work with her and my aunt a lot. I try to be a very caring person, so working in a nursing home or in the emergency room seems like a good fit for me. I really enjoyed the biology class I took and am really interested in the body and everything. Mr. Hopkins is the best teacher ever.”

Talk about what it’s been like to have your sister Maddie, a 2005 graduate, as a mentor and a competitor?

“She only played at Warner for two years because she lost interest after a while, so that was tough to see her quit. I’ve always competed against her just because she’s my older sister. She helps coach the JV team, she’s always there and she always tells me what I need to do better, even though I don’t always listen to her. She’s been kind of a mentor to me.”

What’s going to be the toughest part about repeating as state champions this season?

“We’re really going to have to be consistent if we want to repeat as state champs. We have the talent and the capabilities to be state champions again but we’re really going to have to practice hard because we have good completion up there. I see probably Wasilla or Dimond as our toughest competition. We lost by like 10 to Wasilla earlier in the year, and then we beat them by one. They have a big, tall girl so it’s gonna be fun.”